Traditionally, deep-fried ("french-fried") potato products are processed in the form of rectangular or square julienne-type strips, slices or wedge cuts. Such products typically are processed by cutting whole potatoes into pieces of the desired shape, and then blanching, parfrying and freezing the pieces. When reconstituted by oil frying, such products characteristically have an oil content of about 10-20% and a solids content of about 40-65% (including oils), by weight.
Such french-fried potato products generally fall into one of two categories, a "shoe string" cut with a thickness in the range of about 3/16-1/4 inch, or thicker "steak" cut with a thickness in the range of 3/8-1/2 inch. French-fried shoe string strips are crisper and have a higher oils content than steak cut strips. The latter, however, have a stronger potato flavor.
Potato products having a "waffle" or "lattice" cut have also been produced, but such products have been limited to thin, potato chip-type products. A waffle-cut potato chip characteristically has longitudinal ridges and grooves formed in both cut surfaces to give it a "corrugated" shape. At least one commercially available product has ridges and grooves on one surface that are perpendicular to the ridges and grooves on the opposite surface. The grooves are sufficiently deep such that the grooves of one cut surface intersect those of the other cut surface to form a grid of openings in the chip. A potato chip of this type is shown in FIG. 18 of Urschel et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,139,127 and 3,139,130. Another is shown in FIG. 8 of Toland et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,937,049.
Potato chips, including those of the waffle-cut type, typically are processed by cutting whole potatoes into thin wafers or chips, parfrying them, and finally degreasing the chips. They typically have a thickness of about 1/16 inch. They also characteristically have an oil content of about 30-40%, and a solids content of about 90-98% (including oils), by weight, and are consumed as a dry snack food.
Potato chips are much crisper than even french-fried shoe string potato strips, but they are also much more fragile than the latter and therefore pose special packaging and transportation problems. Aside from their superior structural strength, shoe string potato strips, as well as steak cut strips, have a much stronger, full-bodied potato flavor than potato chips. Potato chips, french-fried shoe string strips and french-fried steak cut strips each have their own niche in the food product market; the virtues of one are not necessarily preferable to the virtues of the others. However, heretofore no one has been able successfully to combine the virtues of these products, primarily because of inherent limitations in existing potato slicing equipment.
The only known commercially available potato slicing machine for making waffle-cut potato chips is substantially like that shown in Urschel Patent Nos. 3,139,127 and 3,139,130, manufactured by Urschel Laboratories, Inc., Valparaiso, Indiana, as model "CCL". In operation, whole potatoes are received by a central, rotating carriage and fed outwardly by centrifugal force into one of several radial guides which simultaneously rotate and direct the potatoes to a stationary cutting assembly surrounding the carriage. The cutting assembly includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced, corrugated knives that project into the path of the orbiting potatoes to cut away thin slices of the potatoes, shunting the slices tangentially away from the cutting assembly. Means are provided to cause the guides, and hence the potato(es) carried therein, to rotate 90.degree. in between cuts. In this way, the corrugated knives slice the potatoes into thin potato slices having ridges and grooves on one side that are perpendicular to the ridges and grooves on the other side. Because the slices are so thin, even a corrugated knife having a relatively flat amplitude slices through the grooves of the previous cut to provide a grid-like pattern of openings in the potato slices.
The Urschel patents teach that the thickness of the potato slices, as well as the size of the openings in the slice, can be varied by changing the size of the corrugated knives and/or the size of openings in the cutting assembly through which the slices are tangentially shunted. However, there are critical inherent limitations. Once the thickness of the slice reaches about 1/8 inch (a "thick" potato chip), the amplitude of the corrugated knife necessary to cut a potato slice with openings becomes large enough such that inner and outer clamping members clamping opposite sides of the knife begin shearing away the ridges of any adjacent exposed cut surface. Thus, the leading edge of the inner clamping member shears away most of the ridges just cut in the exposed cut surface of the orbiting potato, which eventually forms one surface of the potato slice. And, the leading edge of the outer clamping member shears away most of the ridges of the other surface of the potato slice as it is shunted tangentially away from the cutting assembly.
The resulting potato slices are totally unacceptable for processing as potato chips. The problem is only exacerbated as the thickness of the product is increased.
Accordingly, there is a need for a potato product having characteristics of both french-fried shoe string and steak cut strips, and to a lesser extent potato chips, and a machine and process for making the same.
It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a potato product having an enhanced full-bodied potato flavor and fried character, as well as portions with a crisp texture characteristic of potato chips.
A second object of the invention is to provide a potato product having a unique taste and character.
Another object of the invention is to provide a potato product having characteristics of both french-fried shoe string and steak cut strips, and to a lesser degree potato chips.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a waffle-cut potato product suitable for processing as a deep-fried (french-fried) potato product.
A further object of the invention is to provide a process for preparing a waffle-cut potato product having a unique taste and texture when consumed.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for slicing potatoes into thick waffle-cut sections having a grid of openings, without shearing off any ridges during slicing.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, that is economical and maintains the production capacity of conventional potato slicing apparatus.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the drawings and following detailed description.